Flipped Out

First Lesson: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20
Responsive Reading: Psalm 111
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13
Gospel Lesson: Mark 1: 21-28

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 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

“Ephesians 6:12-13a  —  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…”
 
Clerow Wilson, Jr. was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1933[1].  Wilson’s father was a frequently out of work handyman.  When Wilson was seven years old, his mother abandoned the family.  After his mother’s exit, Wilson bounced around to a series of foster homes.  Wilson desperate for a new kind of life at the age of 16 lied to get into the Air Force.  The Air Force was where Wilson’s career took off only not in the way, we would think.  Wilson quickly became known as a great story-teller, he soon began to be sent to other bases as a way to cheer up depressed troops.  Wilson was soon given the nickname of Flip due to his easily excitable nature. 
 
Wilson breaks into the entertainment industry, becomes a regular at the Apollo Theater, The Tonight Show, Laugh-In, and The Ed Sullivan Show.  Wilson eventually gets his own show “The Flip Wilson Show”.  Wilson’s show was so popular that it introduced multiple catchphrases into the American vocabulary such as “When you’re hot; you’re hot; when you’re not, you’re not.” and “What you see is what you get[2]!”
 
Wilson’s most popular character though was when he played a preacher’s wife named Geraldine Jones[3].  Wilson created Geraldine because he wanted to show a woman on T.V. who was both strong and honest[4].  Geraldine’s main claim to fame was never changing her manners no matter the circumstances.  In, Geraldine’s most famous skit, her preacher husband gets mad at how much Geraldine had spent on a new dress.  Geraldine looks her husband in the eyes then claims “The Devil made me buy this dress!”
 
The audience howled in approval.  Wilson’s comedy album of “The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress” went gold and eventually won a Grammy Award for best comedy album[5].  Audiences howled at Geraldine’s excuses.  Wilson’s act made ultimately a T.V. Pioneer with Time Magazine proclaiming him “TV's first black superstar[6].”
 
Geraldine Jones raises an interesting question for us to consider this morning: does the Devil make us buy new dresses or how much blame can we place on the Devil for our actions?
 
Second Story- Jimmy Swaggart was a struggling Assemblies of God preacher in rural Louisiana in the 1950’s[7].  He eventually transitions into full-time revival work.  Swaggart soon develops quite a following throughout the south.  By the Mid 1970’s Swaggart had developed quite a presence on both Radio and T.V becoming famous across the country.  In 1988 Swaggart would see his world come crashing down[8].  When Swaggart gets on T.V. teary-eyed and admits “I have sinned.”  It would soon be revealed Swaggart had acted inappropriately with a woman of the night.  Swaggart immediately receives a one-year suspension from the Assemblies of God for his deeds.  Swaggart then proceeds to call the equally well-known preacher Oral Roberts.[9]  Oral Roberts and Swaggart agree that “Demon-possession” was the reason for Swaggart’s adultery.  Roberts proceeds to call out a demon over the phone from Swaggart.  Roberts described the Demon as having “long fingernails” digging into Swaggart’s flesh.  Swaggart declared himself a new man after Roberts’ intervention.  Swaggart then announced that he was ready to return to his pulpit[10].  Swaggart’s sincerity quickly became debated amongst his denomination the Assemblies of God[11]. 
 
The second question for this morning: do demons actually possess our body as in the case of Jimmy Swaggart leading us to do things we would never do on our own?
 
Hearing these stories of Flip Wilson - Geraldine Jones/Jimmy Swaggart bring us to our Gospel lesson for Today from Mark 1[12].  In our lesson, Jesus is teaching in Capernaum on the Sabbath.  The people are astonished at his teaching.  Right during the middle of Jesus’ teaching, he is interrupted by a man possessed by a demon.  Jesus stops and orders the demon to leave the man’s body.  The crowd then witnesses the demon leaving the man’s body.  The demon even cries out in a loud voice.  The people were amazed.  Jesus’ fame then began to spread fast.
 
So how should we make sense of this story?  Now, this is a pretty unique story within the Bible for a man to be possessed by a demon in a manner such as this.  Very few people have ever experienced such demon-possession. 
 
There is something that we struggle with that is more common.  We’ve probably all struggled with emotions at times with our lives that are difficult to control.  It might be anger, might be jealousy, it might be a longing for revenge; it might be our arrogance and self-righteousness.
 
Albert Einstein was once quoted as saying: “It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.”
 
Let me ask you this[13]: Have you ever said or done something you immediately regretted because you knew it was hurtful?  Even now when you look back at your action, you wonder “What exactly were you thinking?”
 
Perhaps a good way to understand demon-possession is while you’re unlikely to be physically overwhelmed by a demon, what is perhaps much more likely is that unseen forces do possess the ability to help lead one to commit the gravest of sins[14].
 
Last Sunday night, my beloved Minnesota Vikings played for the fifth time in my life for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.  The game was disappointing.  Soon after the game ends, videos are shown on the internet of Viking fans being pelted with beer cans and be called every nasty slur in the books while walking in Philadelphia; along with reports of even greater physical violence than this.  Being a loyal Vikings fan, seeing a persecuted minority in the face of the overwhelming majority, your mind quickly turns to thoughts of comeuppance or revenge.  I know better than this on several levels, I know that you need to resist the temptation to paint Philadelphia Eagles fans with too broad a brush.  I also know that in years of attending Vikings games, all fan behavior that I’ve witnessed hasn’t been exactly stellar.  I also know that violence most often ends up producing even more violence.  Suffering ends up producing more suffering.
 
These thoughts serve as a reminder that the unseen forces wage battle against all of us. 
 
Evil shows its face when the hideously ugly appears to possess a degree of beauty.  As pointed out by Pastor Leon Stier: “Life is a battle, a battle within yourself, and, a battle with others when they yield to the Evil One and wrong you[15].”
 
So why Geraldine Jones’ line “The Devil made me do it” was quite funny, the line also in many cases contains a degree of truth especially if we’re unaware. 
 
Unseen forces tend to attack us where we’re at our weakest.  For example, I don’t much enjoy the taste of beer.  Drinking one beer might be enough for a year.  Whereas there are certain types of chocolate, I better limit what I have in the house.  If you’re Jimmy Swaggart, the weakness might be a younger woman.  Evil forces are effective because they’re clever.  If we’re anxious, these anxious forces make the future increasingly uncertain. If we’re depressed, these forces make the future increasingly hopeless.  If we struggle with shame, these forces keep throwing our past actions in our face. 
 
In the face of these forces, we do have hope.  Jesus in our lesson for today shows the power to cast out an evil spirit out of this hurting man.  We are unlikely to see anything so dramatic within our lives, yet as we go through this Epiphany season, we are reminded that God seeks to touch and heal us through the presence of his son.   The story of the man with the unclean spirit might seem not to have much to do with us, yet if you think regarding unwelcome temptations in life rather than physical demon-possession than the lesson points to our own lives[16].  We rest assured that no matter how dark the forces are that attack us, the Cross of Christ can eventually overcome them all. 
 
So did the Devil make Geraldine Jones buy a new dress[17]?  Think back to the Garden of Eden, Adam blames Eve[18]; Eve blames the serpent[19].  Rather than admit that what took place was their fault, the Devil doesn’t forcibly remove credit cards from your wallet.  Evil forces may tempt us and entice us all the day long, yet he only feeds on our brokenness. And as in the case of the Minnesota Vikings’ last Sunday, brokenness within life always has a way of coming to the forefront.
 
What the story of the Man at the Synagogue in Capernaum illustrates to us this morning is that no matter how broken our situation may get, Jesus promises that he will eventually flip all our demons out of the room.  Amen
           
        
[1] “Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 17.Oct.2017.  Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[2] Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[3] “Geraldine Jones (Character).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 7.Dec.2017. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[4] Geraldine Jones (Character).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia..
[5] Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[6] Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[7] “Jimmy Swaggart.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 30. Dec.2017. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[8] “Oral Roberts cast demons out of out of Swaggart, Swaggart friend says.” UPI News Service. 30.Mar.1988. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[9] Oral Roberts cast demons out of out of Swaggart, Swaggart friend says.” UPI News Service.
[10] “Jimmy Swaggart.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[11] Jimmy Swaggart.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
[12] Mark 1:21-28. 
[13] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!” Email Mediatations. 1. Mar.2015. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[14] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!”
[15] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!”
[16] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!”
[17] Reverend Ed. “Flip Wilson Theology - The Devil Made Me Do It.” Attention Span Blog. Blogger. 11. Apr.2015.  Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[18] Genesis 3:12.
[19] Genesis 3:13.